Big call – Gerrard may have to choose between 21 and 22-year old…

Rangers recently announced our latest summer signing, a £650,000 capture from Oldham in the form of George Edmundson.

This 21-year old CB is the first defensive signing of the summer break, which is a touch surprising given all the need for extra bodies in there, but the crucial question is does he go straight into the starting XI?

The negotiations to secure him were slightly protracted, but Gerrard clearly wanted his man and Rangers were prepared to play the long game to get him – they succeeded and the ex-Oldham man is now thrilled to bits to put on the Light Blue.

But… we’ve been here before.

Last summer, 21-year old Nikola Katic joined from Slaven Belupo – all the potential in the world and already capped by his nation. He was an instant hit and went straight into the first XI.

But then Joe Worrall arrived and Katic barely featured till the split thereafter. Now, of course, we know why Worrall played so much, and we hope we don’t go that route again – which means do we expect this lad to become a mainstay in the team?

And if so, alongside Connor Goldson or Katic?

Gerrard explained we needed defensive bodies to replace Worrall and McAuley (the latter whose future is murky at best – didn’t get a new deal, didn’t go to Portugal, but still being mentioned on the official site as a Rangers player muddies the picture a touch), but we would suspect a solid money capture like Edmundson would probably anticipate being more than a squad member.

But then we expected the same from £2M Katic and it didn’t quite work out that way.

As to whether he is a certain starter, you’d need to ask Stevie – no one should be, but contracts are contracts and clauses inside stipulate certain demands whether we like it or not.

And in Edmundson’s case, while we wouldn’t pretend to be hugely familiar with his attributes and qualities, we just can’t see him sitting on the bench this season.